Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 52:

In page 10, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 150 of Act of 2000

11.The Act of 2000 is amended in section 150 by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2):

“(2A) Such codes of conduct described in subsection (2) shall require any member of an authority or the Board to disclose—

(a) interests and relationships where the interests and relationships are of relevance to the work of the authority or the Board, as appropriate,

(b) membership of other organisations, associations and bodies, professional or otherwise which are of relevance to the work of the authority or the Board, and

(c) membership of, or other financial interests in, companies, partnerships or other bodies.”.”.

Amendment No. 52 seeks to insert a new section in the Bill, which amends section 150 of the principal Act by introducing a new subsection (2A) to provide that the codes of conduct in subsection (2) shall require any member of an authority or the board to disclose interests and relationships where the interests and relationships are of relevance to the work of the authority of the board, as appropriate; membership of other organisations, associations and bodies, professional or otherwise, where that is of relevance to the work of the authority of the board; and membership of or financial interests in companies, partnerships or other bodies where that is relevant to the work of the board.

At the moment, section 150(2) simply lists many items that will be in a code of conduct and it "may" address any of these issues, whereas my amendment would ensure that the code of conduct “shall” include certain core provisions, for example, it shall require disclosure of interests and relationships, memberships of organisations and financial interests in companies, partnerships or other bodies. That is appropriate. It should not be the case that a code of conduct may or may not include those factors; it should require such disclosures. We have seen very good reason for that in some of the investigations we have seen taking place and some of the very serious concerns that have been raised in respect of issues around conflicts of interest and, indeed, financial interests in respect of the decision-making of the board.

This amendment complements Senator Warfield’s amendment. I am trying to ensure the code of conduct is robust, while the Senator's amendment sought to ensure that the code of conduct that would be enforced. These are complementary amendments. I know the Minister of State will not accept them in this House, but I know he is bringing amendments in the Dáil. I strongly encourage him to look at my amendment and Senator Warfield’s amendment and seize the opportunity to include in the Bill at least one component that seeks to address the public confidence issues that have arisen by providing for some combination of the two amendments.